Metallic reaction driven manufacturing of concrete type alloy

Abstract Conventional alloy fabrication typically relies on high–energy input to disrupt metallic bonds and reconfigure alloy structures. Here, a room–temperature (RT) metallic reaction strategy for the concrete-type alloy (CTA) is proposed, and the CTA exhibits a multiphase composite structure like concrete, which is defined as concrete type alloy (CTA). The negative Gibbs free energy condition is established in a multi–component metallic system, which facilitates the metallic reaction and forms the in situ CTA. The CTA consists of a base metal (Cu), gallium (Ga)-based liquid metal (LM, alloying agent), and sodium hydroxide (NaOH, catalyst), which is achieved by solidification through a metallic reaction at RT. When combined with cold–isostatic–pressing (CIP) and secondary–phase strengthening technology, the CTA exhibits exceptional mechanical properties, and its nanohardness and elastic modulus reach 6 GPa and 150 GPa, respectively. This metallic reaction method can also be applied to other transition metal alloys at RT, establishing a new forming technology for metal alloys.